In an effort to address the pervasive environmental and health issues associated with the use of plastics in society, several industries have pivoted towards the use of so-called biodegradable plastics or bioplastics to produce a variety of products, with the promise that these plastics are less harmful to the environment than traditional plastics. But what are they and what are their supposed environmental benefits?
Bioplastic and Their Benefits
While the terms bioplastics and biodegradable plastics are often used interchangeably, they designate different types of products. Indeed, bioplastics typically designate plastics that were produced partly or entirely from biomass, while biodegradable or compostable plastics can be degraded by living organisms or other processes but can be produced from any source.
In the first case, bioplastics are often presented as a more ecological alternative to traditional plastics due to the fact that they do not originate from fossil fuel sources. Fortunately, this is true to a certain extent, and reducing the use of fossil fuels does indeed have benefits for the environment such as reducing the carbon footprint associated with plastics production while also having the potential to valorize traditionally discarded biomass feedstocks. However, despite their more ecological origin, bioplastics still suffer from the same issues as traditional plastics once they are disposed of, and can become persistent environmental contaminants.
In the second case, biodegradable or compostable plastics would seem to be the answer to environmental plastic contamination, where they should degrade naturally in the environment and eventually form something resembling compost. However, this is far from true, and the vast majority of these plastics require special conditions such as high temperatures or the presence of specialized microbes or enzymes to deteriorate properly. What is worse, some compostable plastics don’t actually fully degrade, and instead simply break down into microplastics, which can further exacerbate environmental contamination issues. At any rate, this type of plastic does not seem to offer any advantage over traditional plastics if they end up in landfill, and will lead to the same environmental issues.
That said, the situation is not as dire as some would have you believe, and these types of plastics do offer opportunities for society to resolve some of the issues associated with their use, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental contamination. Through continued investments in the development of post-consumer processing and treatment technologies, we could reap the benefits of these new types of materials and create a truly circular plastics economy. One promising avenue for this is the development of technologies which would allow consumers to biodegrade their own used plastics with specialized waste treatment systems, and while these technologies aren’t fully realized yet, they could have a strong impact the plastic’s industry environmental footprint by reducing the need for transport and external treatment. So don’t lose hope! The use of consumer plastics is here to stay, but at least we may manage to keep them out of the environment in our lifetime.
Companies that are innovating in this sector are likely to be eligible for several funding programs including government grants, and SR&ED.
